Smith frowned. “For all the enhancements, he’s still just human.”
“We have to know his limits,” Eric said.
“I’m aware of the testing protocols. It’s not out of concern for Frist’s feelings. He’s our only candidate.”
“What about his memory?” Nancy asked.
“There’s been no signs that he remembers anything,” Eric said. “He was confused, at first, but that’s gone. We’re monitoring for mood disturbances. We’ve tapered him off the drugs, except for the strength cocktail. Barnwell says the false memories are fully integrated.”
Nancy’s pale blue eyes were cold and hard. “At the first sign of problems, blow his brains out.”
“I’ll keep that under advisement,” he said dryly.
“How are things on deck?” Smith asked.
Eric paused. “It’s overwhelming. There’s so much raw intel. The analysts do an incredible job, but I’m still having trouble determining which are actionable and which can be ignored.”
“Don’t be hard on yourself,” Smith said. “Your primary duty is training Frist. You will soon be fully capable of running the command deck, and I’m sure Nancy will show you some of the finer aspects of the intelligence reports.”
Nancy arched her eyebrow. “I will?”
Smith patted her hand. “Of course. Shall I make that an order?”
Nancy shook her head. “Hard to give orders when I’m not technically in any command structure.”
“Humor your father, will you? Please help bring Mr. Wise and Mr. Freeman up to speed.”
“Of course,” Nancy said. “Always willing to take one for the team. Blah blah, blah.”
Smith silenced her with a look. “You’ll do as I ask.”
Eric almost missed her grimace.
“Yes, sir. Excuse me, I’ve got things to do.” She stood and glared at Eric. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, before your training sessions with Frist.” She left and although she did not sullenly slam the door, it was close.
Smith eyed the door. “Sorry for that. She doesn’t like taking orders, even from me. My fault, really. She didn’t have a normal childhood, though I tried to make sure there were a few gentle years.”
Curios, he asked, “What’s her deal, anyway? What role does she fill?”
Smith adjusted his tie. “She is one of the deck commanding officers. She handles special assignments. She’s performed several targeted assassinations.” Noticing the look on Eric’s face, Smith continued, “Try not to look so shocked. She received combat and firearm training before she could drive. She had just turned eighteen when she joined the Office. She was eager to please her father.” His voice trailed off.
Eric waited as the man fumbled with his tie.
“Less so when she found out what we do,” Smith continued. “Her first assignment went poorly and she killed a man. We needed alive. The operation was a failure. I won’t bore you with the details, but many innocent men and women died because of that failure. She took it very personally.”
“Everyone makes mistakes,” Eric offered.
“Surely they do, and I told her as much. She changed after that, became more aggressive, more stubborn, more violent. The harder she tried the less effective she became. I finally gave her a choice, either modify her behavior or remove her from the Office. Do you know how hard that was?”
Erick shook his head. “Of course I don’t.”
Smith’s eyes bore in to his. “She’s my only child. It would be worse to lose her. If she died because of me, I believe I might lose all sense of perspective. Do you understand what that means?”
Eric thought about what Fulton Smith could do with the power and the resources of the Office, and felt a cold pit in his stomach.
“Yes,” Smith said. “I can see that you do. I’ve been the Director for over fifty years. I’ve always done the right thing, you understand? Even Nancy’s birth was an accident. I didn’t want a child, someone who would suffer through having me as a father. What life could I give her? She wanted to join the Office, but one wrong mission and she could be caught, tortured, or even killed.” Smith stopped fiddling with his tie. “No one on this Earth would be safe if that happened. I would make the world burn.”
Eric shuddered. Smith’s life was a lonely place, full of power and responsibility, and his daughter suffered for it. He tucked the sudden insight away and nodded.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to burden you with this, but you’ll be working with her and I need to know you’ll protect her. From those who might hurt her. From herself. You’re a man of your word. Promise me that?”
“Yes, sir.” Eric rose as Smith stood and shook Smith’s hand. “Was there anything else?”
“I’m returning to Washington tomorrow. Continue with Frist. Nancy will be in charge of your training on deck, but remember, you answer only to me. No matter what she may say.”
Eric nodded. “I’ll remember.”
There was a knock on Eric’s door at 0600. He opened it and found Nancy standing there, Deion in tow. “You ready,” she asked, “or would you like a hot shower and a donut?”
“I’ve been waiting for the past hour,” Eric said with a grin. “Already went over the duty roster. And, ate my donut.”
Deion smirked, but stopped when Nancy glared at him.
She talked as she led them to the War Room. “The first thing you need to understand is that the AI’s comb the data, but they’re only as good as the analyst who programmed them. Each analyst can change their AI’s search data. If they tag something, it gets saved and rolled over to the next shift.”
They entered through the War Room’s man-trap and the sergeant manning the deck saluted. “Commander on deck!”
Nancy nodded as control was passed to her. “What have we got today, Sergeant Clark?”
Clark sighed. “There’s a North Korean trawler that’s not where it’s supposed to be. We’ve got something happening in the financial markets in Greece. Al-Sadr’s men are causing problems in Iraq, but the surge seems to be holding. There’s chatter about a white supremacist group in Colorado. Afghanistan is still Afghanistan.”
“Thank you Sergeant, you’re relieved.” Nancy turned to question Deion and Eric. “So, which of these requires attention?”
Eric glanced at Deion, but Deion waved for Eric to go first.
“The Greek markets could be serious,” he said, “but there’s not much we can do about that. Al-Sadr is a pain in the ass, but the surge will hold, based upon evidence, so we pass the concern along to JSOC. The trawler is a problem, though.”
“Why so? Freeman, you’re up.”
Deion nodded. “Ever since Japan captured that trawler a few years ago, tensions have been high. If it’s another spy boat fitted out like a trawler, it could destabilize the entire region. We can’t just blow it out of the water, that would make it an international incident. Best option is to pass it along to JSOC as well, let them deal with it.”
Nancy turned to Eric. “Do you agree?”
He nodded. “The SEALs could handle it discretely.”
Nancy nodded. “Good call.” She turned to Sergeant Clark. “Sergeant, make it happen.”
Clark nodded. “I’ll pass it along to our people in JSOC.”
Nancy turned back to Eric. “Now, what about the white supremacists?”
He shrugged. “It depends on the intel. Sergeant, what’s the scoop?”
Clark tapped out commands on his keyboard and one of the analysts, a thick brunette woman, hurried to the control deck, a coffee cup in hand. “This is Karen Kryzowski.”
Karen smiled and then explained, “A group we’ve been tracking for years is acting up. The American Patriot Revolution. There’s chatter, but no specifics. It could be drugs, but more likely guns. The part that concerns me is that they’re speaking in codes.”